Medieval Europe History Overview

• During the Roman Empire, Christianity became the official state religion, but after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, the Byzantine Empire kept Eastern Orthodox Christianity alive.
• The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, had significant influence on Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Europe until its fall in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire.
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity continued to be embraced by the Rus and other Eastern European peoples after the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
• Christianity remained the dominant belief system in Europe, but Islam and Judaism held important minority positions.
• In Western Europe, there were no large empires, and the social, political, and economic order was organized around feudalism.
• Feudalism was a system of allegiances between powerful lords and monarchs, with land exchanged for loyalty.
• Peasants, or serfs, were bound to the land and worked in exchange for protection.
• Monarchs began to centralize their power in the 13th century, leading to increased competition and wars for influence and territory.

Explore an overview of the history of Medieval Europe, including the transition from the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire, the influence of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the development of feudalism, and the centralization of power by monarchs.